Second Global Health café

Adolescents take central stage in second Global Health café

How can we design healthcare systems in such a way that it will be used to its fullest effect by adolescents? This question will be center stage in the second Global Health Café that will take place on Friday 16th of March in the afternoon in the Humanity House in The Hague.

The series is an initiative of five Dutch development organizations, KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation (KNCV), Amref Flying Doctors, Cordaid, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, Wemos and Dutch development aid publisher Vice Versa. The debates aim to establish a broader strategic approach towards global health and to raise awareness of relevant health system and global health sector issues.

The discussion next Friday will focus on how the sustainable development goals (SDGs) can only succeed if they succeed in Africa. Currently Africa is facing major challenges on many inter-connected terrains, where a strong increase in population -and as a consequence a young population- is central. In Africa, this demographic growth is actually seen as an opportunity more often than not.

African governments have grand ambitions in the field of Sexual Reproductive and Health Rights (SRHR), with special attention towards a broad range of care that is provided before, during and after childbirth. A group that is less successfully reached within current healthcare systems is the age group between 10 and 22 years. And it is especially this group that is vulnerable and where the key for successful policy lies. Adolescents experience child marriages, sexual violence, and teenage pregnancies. Within the current healthcare systems in Africa these youths have little to no voice.

With guests from Africa and the Netherlands we will discuss these pressing questions in this field and hear about examples from local practice. How can we design healthcare in such a way that it can be used optimally by adolescents and how do you ensure that healthcare systems are held accountable for reaching this demographic?